For-Hire Freight Continues Setting New Records

14 Feb by Vitaliy Dadalyan

For-Hire Freight Continues Setting New Records

Freight Transportation Services Index, December 2012 – December 2017. Credit: U.S. DOT

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A gauge of the level of freight moved by the nation’s for-hire transportation industry capped off 2017 by posting another new all-time monthly high, according to the Transportation Department.

Its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), increased 0.7% than the previous highest level reached in November, with a reading of 132. This marked the reaching an all-time high for the third consecutive month.

For the year, the index was 6.1% higher in December 2017 than a year earlier, the largest annual gain since 2010.

The November index was revised to 131.1 from 130.8 in last month’s release. Monthly numbers for January through October were revised down slightly.

The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in for-hire freight shipments by mode of transportation in tons and ton-miles, which are combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight from trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

The December increase in the Freight TSI was broad based, according to the department, with increases in rail carloads, rail intermodal, trucking, and water, while pipeline and air freight declined.

The overall gain took place against a background of mostly positive results for other economic indicators. The Federal Reserve Board’s Industrial Production index rose by 0.9% in December, with significant increases in mining and utilities and a small increase in all manufacturing. Employment rose, personal incomes grew and the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index rose to a level 59.7, indicating accelerating growth. In contrast, housing starts fell by 8.2%.

The 2.8% increase in the Freight TSI in the fourth quarter was consistent with the 2.6% growth in gross domestic product (GDP) during the same months. GDP growth had been 3.2% in the third quarter and 3.1% in the second quarter, when the Freight TSI also grew. …Read the rest of this story

Source:: http://www.truckinginfo.com/channel/fleet-management/news/story/2018/02/for-hire-freight-continues-setting-new-records.aspx